Post-fire Successions of Vegetation and Pinus koraiensis Ectomycorrhizal Communities in Korean Pine–Broadleaf Forests of the Central Sikhote-Alin

Abstract

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t Available online xxxxThe characteristics of four stages of demutational succession of a valley Korean pine-broadleaf forest are provided according to the parameters most vividly capturing the structure of the plant community and influencing the renewal and mycorrhization of Korean pine (Pinus koraiensis) seedlings. It was found that Korean pine seedlings grow in a competitive environment on the fresh burned site; hence the mycorrhization occurs from specialized symbiotes that provide competitive advantages and adaptation to stress factors. Mycorrhiza forms the least successful in the 50-60-year-old larch-birch-spiraea association during the seral stages of succession.The 90-100-year-old birch-broadleaf association offers the most suitable soil and cenotic conditions for the development of Korean pine seedlings that can successfully generate mycorrhiza from both the spores present in the thick soil layer, and through mycelia of shared mycorrhizal networks of seral and primary (including Korean pine) tree species. A 230-250-year-old climax community comprises all patterns to ensure that pine seedlings encounter a fungal component; in this community the greatest abundance of species and a balanced composition of ectomycorrhizal fungi communities of Korean pine are observed. IntroductionThe increase of the number and the area of fires, both of man-made and natural origin, on the territory of one of the richest forest regions of Russia -the Far East leads to a sharp reduction of valuable forest ecosystems, including primary pine-broadleaf forests (Astafiev et al., 2004;Sukhomlinov, 2006; Petropavlovsky and Astafiev, 2010). Natural regeneration of pine forests after the fires is a complex, lengthy and understudied process. So far data was obtained on demutational successions in pine forests after the fires, mainly concerning the changes in the composition and structure of communities, the early stages of succession, soil banks of seeds and morphogenesis of species (Kolesnikov

Below-Ground Ectomycorrhizal Community Structure in the Postfire Successional Pinus koraiensis Forests in the Central Sikhote-Alin (the Russian Far East)

“…Accordingly, the presence of EcM fungi is vital for the establishment of ob li ga to ry mycorrhizal framework in recurring P. koraiensis phytocoe noses, where fireresistant EcM fungi or fungi with rapid recolonization strategy from available sources of inocu lum acquire great importance. To the best of our know ledge, this is the first resumptive study, which gene ra lizes all information of the belowground EcM community of P. koraiensis growing in the Central SikhoteAlin moun tains (Malysheva et al 2014, Pimenova et al, 2015. At the four study sites we distinguished 110 EcM fungal ta xa based on analyzing of P. koraiensis mature trees and seedlings root tips.…”

“…Analysis of the coenopo pu la tion structure and dynamics showed that the group of ini tial species, the most active in the early years after the fire, Figure 5 OTUs numbers in relation to soil layers (A 0 -AB) and the age of the Pinus koraiensis trees at different sites was only 10 % of the total number of species, and se rial and climax coenopopulations reached a significant di ver sity (Pimenova et al 2015). Initial coenopopulations are repre sented by annualbiennial herbs and shrubs with a circum polar, Eurasian and AsianNorth American dis tri bution.…”

“…The re fo res ta tion process is largely determined by the intensity of the fire and the amount of area burned, and depends on the stand nature preserved after fire and the close presence of seedproducing trees (Komarova et al 2008). It is well known that mycorrhizal colonization significantly affects both the speed and the direction of any recovery processes in plant as so cia tions (Jonsson et al 2001, Smith & Read 2008, especially under conditions of prolonged and comp li cated natural regeneration of P. koraiensis forests after se vere fire (Pimenova et al 2015). Accordingly, the presence of EcM fungi is vital for the establishment of ob li ga to ry mycorrhizal framework in recurring P. koraiensis phytocoe noses, where fireresistant EcM fungi or fungi with rapid recolonization strategy from available sources of inocu lum acquire great importance.…”